Lusaka Province Permanent Secretary Joe Kalusa says the government remains fully committed to enable farmers in the country to thrive amidst the impact of climate change through various initiatives.
Engineer Kalusa says initiatives such as the promotion of climate smart agriculture practices, agricultural research and development and empowerment of farmers with farming resources are among the measures that the government has put in place to ensure that the Agriculture sector remains resilient to climate change.
He says that these initiatives also align well with the country’s 8th National Development Plan (8th NDP).
ZANIS reports that Engineer Kalusa said this in a speech read on his behalf by Lusaka Provincial Assistant Secretary ,Gedeon Mwanza during the official opening of the 97th Lusaka Province Agriculture and Commercial Show in Chongwe under the theme ‘ Adapting to Climate Change.
He noted that the government has been empowering farmers in the province through training in entrepreneurship, record keeping, food preservation, crop production as well as value addition in an effort to help them to enhance their farming activities into lucrative business ventures.
Engineer Kalusa added that emerging farmers and small scale enterprises in the area have also benefited from various empowerment initiatives implemented by the government such as the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and the Sustainable Agriculture Finance Facility (SAFF).
“So far, 659 farmers in Lusaka Province have since accessed SAFF loans under the crop window, 25 secured financing for irrigation and 2 received support for mechanisation,” Engineer Kalusa said.
He indicated that the province has recorded a remarkable improvement in crop production during the 2024-2025 farming season compared to the 2023/2024 farming season.
Engineer Kalusa stated that Lusaka province harvested 126, 204.58 metric tonnes of white maize during the 2024/2025 farming season compared to 25,334 metric tonnes harvested during the 2023/2024 farming season.
He also revealed that the province recorded an increase in soya beans production from 11, 116 metric tonnes harvested during the 2023/2024 farming season to 12,377 metric tonnes in the 2024/2025 farming season.
The permanent secretary attributed the improved crop production to favourable rain patterns and climate smart agriculture as well as sustainable farming practices adopted by farmers.
Meanwhile, a representative from the Lusaka Province Show Society Cooperatives Limited Nyongani Banda implored farmers and the business community in the province to embrace practices that will enable them to adapt to climate change for increased resilience and productivity.
Mr. Banda said climate change poses a threat to the country’s agricultural productivity and food security hence the need for everyone to make efforts to take up adaptation mechanisms that will enable the country to thrive in the wake of climate change.
He noted that this year’s theme for the show is a call to action for stakeholders in the province to work together to enhance resilience in the country’s agriculture sector.
“This year’s Provincial Agriculture and Commercial Show is very timely and must be embraced by all stakeholders in the province. It is a call to action urging us to work together to build a more resilient agriculture sector,” Mr. Banda noted.
Mr. Banda further commended the government for the strides it has made from 2021 to improve the welfare of citizens in the country through the implementation of various empowerment programmes.
